Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer map, Favela, has been temporarily removed from the game's playlists.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 3 players have found themselves temporarily one venue short, as Activision has pulled one of the game's maps following complaints from Muslim gamers.

The map in question, Favela, depicts a shanty town in Rio de Janiro. One of the bathrooms in the map contains two paintings, the frames of which are decorated with an ornate quote attributed to the prophet, Muhammad: "Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty."

As was pointed out in this video released back in October, the sight of holy teachings written on or in a bathroom can be offensive to some followers of Islam. It's a minor error, and one easily attributed to ignorance rather than malice, but Activision has elected to remove the map from rotation until it can be edited via a title update. The publisher has since apologized for the slight.

As an Activision rep told Kotaku:

"We apologize to anyone who found this image offensive. Please be assured we were unaware of this issue and that there was no intent to offend. We are working as quickly as possible to remove this image and any other similar ones we may find from our various game libraries."

We are urgently working to release a Title Update to remove the texture from Modern Warfare 3. We are also working to remove the texture from Modern Warfare 2 through a separate Title Update. Until the TU is ready, we have removed the Favela multiplayer map from online rotation.

Activision and our development studios are respectful of diverse cultures and religious beliefs, and sensitive to concerns raised by its loyal game players. We thank our fans for bringing this to our attention."

The video that originally pointed out the issue has had its comments section closed, I couldn't possibly speculate as to why.

This isn't the first time Muslims have taken issue with unintentional slights in videogames. Media Molecule's Little Big Planet was famously delayed when it became apparent one of the musical tracks from the game contained lines from the Koran. More recently, Hindus took offense when Hi-Rez Studios' announced that their upcoming fighter title, Smite, would feature characters from the Hindu pantheon.

Hold up a sec... that's all it takes to make them change a game on dime?

Alright, Activision, listen up. I'm part of a the Zamolxianist gaming community, there's millions of us, and we are offended by your repetitive games that show little to no improvement year after year. We ask you to change this, or we will boycott your games.

Does anyone think that the Muslims may get a degree of special treatment when it comes to things that offend them, due to the riots and such which were sparked off by that stupid video a few weeks back? And I'm not suggesting that Muslims are generally violent, just commenting on what the public perception may be for a while.

To illustrate my point, I can't see Smite getting altered to fit the demands of the Hindus, simply because I doubt there's a perception of the Hindus doing anything but complaining about it (which they have every right to do). However I doubt any publisher would dare create a game depicting Muhammad in the same light as the Hindu deities are in Smite.

Likewise, the tiny mistake of putting that picture in the wrong spot on that map, has prompted Activision to pull the map until the patch is out. Think about it... they haven't just said 'We'll make a patch and remove the texture', they've actually gone to the extent of pulling the map 'till the patch is ready.

Such comments include...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

There also seems to be a lot of question marks in those quotes that weren't there before and I can't remove them. Hmm.

Really? I mean, based on recent events at least, muslims seem to be pretty easily offended, but this?Okay, I can play this game too, Mass Effect 3's ending deeply offended me along with many other gamers. Please change it.

Funny people- they don't mind that they are being killed in hundreds every dayBut as soon as you somehow touch their book of fairy tales or their pedophile prophet- suddenly they are enragedAnd you know what is the most fucked up thing in this? THEY ARE NOT ENRAGED, simply muslim elite uses such things as excuses to show their supposed superiority.As if they have unique right to bitch and moan about every tiny thing they don't like and everyone else is supposed to simply accept it.

P.S. Friendly advice- don't read Koran, unless you are of strong mind, otherwise you'll get indoctrinated. I'm not kidding, even translated version is set in such way that it will change the way you are thinking, unless you keep your guard up.P.P.S. Now I know how Illusive Man felt.

Between you and me, I never saw religious texts inside restrooms hahahaha However, there's likely no such thing in a favela. Well, anyway you look at it, it's not a matter of ignorance, it IS malice, it's so freakin' unreal that if this is ignorance, than I'm sure that whoever was responsible for that detail doesn't even have a degree...

it makes me sick how religious people can get away with saying "im offended by XYZ" and people will bend over backwards to accommodate them. you know what offends me those stupid looking ankle boots, but will anyone bend over backwards to accommodate me? no they are still being worn everyday all over the world

Trust someone who have read Bible and Torah, before getting on Koran- the structure of language is much more different in Koran. I suspect NLP elements involved (but I am not qualified to make such statement).Only thing that keeps my mind a fighting chance is that I'm dealing with translated version (and I'm going really slow).

This sort of rubbish always annoys me. Muslims getting "offended" over the smallest things, then burning and killing random strangers. In the interests of not getting forum banned FOREVER, I'll just stop there. On being offended, all I have to say is this:

Hang on a second, what about sacrilegious Christian imagery in games? Doom, Quake, Silent Hill? Images potentially offensive to Christians (Inverted crosses, satanic symbols desecration of churches etc.) has been happening for ages.

If you want to live in a society of free speech and free expression then you have to take the rough with the smooth. You're not going to like everything that gets made/said - I don't think it is appropriate to go crying to the game company just because something offends you and expect them to change it for you; the easier solution is to make good on the threat of just not playing the game.

... luckily we do live in a society where free speech is allowed so although I don't agree with it, I accept that the maker of the video has the right to make this complaint - Unfortunately I don't believe that this kind of incident portrays the Muslim community in a good light.

Am I the only one in this thread that finds the main annoyance of the article that the developer has the capability of pulling maps that have already been released? That would be like Bethesda putting out a patch that removes Whiterun from Skyrim.

If I played favella and they had a 100ft statue of their prophet then I could understand - kind of. This is a picture frame with a nice quote about your "lord". I could make a real point about this but don't like the idea of being banned.

This is ridiculous, how is this more offensive than massacaring an entire airport full of unarmed civilians?

Well then, let me ask you guys, can you imagine a game (that isn't a horror one) using Christian imagery in a way offensive to Christians? Middle America would be up in arms and the game would be changed despite a vast portion of the world not being Christians, or at least not massively conservative ones. The game would get changed.

I agree pulling the map instead of issuing a texture fix within a short time is a little extreme, but the guy in the video seemed amiable enough about it, simply saying "this is offensive to a lot of people, please fix it." I fail to see the issue and support the guys consumer rights to an apology and his choice if not fixed to boycott the products in the future series.

Infact; How is this different than say:"Dear Platinum Games,As PS3/Xbox owners, we find your choice to release Bayonetta 2 on one of the projects primary founders console exclusively, offensive. We hope you recognise this and fix it as soon as possible or we will boycott your games"Not much difference at all wouldn't you say? :)

Scars Unseen:Am I the only one in this thread that finds the main annoyance of the article that the developer has the capability of pulling maps that have already been released? That would be like Bethesda putting out a patch that removes Whiterun from Skyrim.

The Activision rep said: "we have removed the Favela multiplayer map from online rotation". That could mean it is still in your game, you just won't encounter it in matchmaking until the issue is resolved. I'm not sure.

Eh, you know, it really pains me to agree with the ultra-conservative, gun-toting, AMURKA LUV IT ER LEEV IT nutjobs... but I kind of have to agree with them on this one. I certainly don't condone deliberately trying to offend people, but you also can't live your whole life trying to avoid offending anyone. Somewhere in the world, someone will be offended by virtually anything.

Case and point: after the release of The Lion King, there was actually outcry from a small group of hyena biologists over the "defamation of hyenas." So what, are you going to remove hyenas from The Lion King? Of course this doesn't really compare, as removing this one thing doesn't affect the game in any way, but the principle is the same. You should try to be sensitive of other people, yes, but at some point you have to draw a line and acknowledge that you can't avoid offending everyone.

People get offended that a quote about Allah is in the bathroom. Ask nicely to remove the quote from the map.Acitivision decides to remove the map until the fix that part.

The internet goes mad.

And people say Muslims are bad. Just look at this thread and the youtube page. You ask your self why religious people get offended when you write all the shit about their God? Also, Islam getting a special treatment? And Christianity not? Last time I checked, gay marriage didn't get legalized in a lot of Christian countries because of Christians. Last time I checked, the church didn't have to pay any taxes.